Better rail travel in Sweden thanks to EU-supported project

Creation date: January 28, 2013

The European Union will co-finance with almost €5 million from the TEN-T Programme a series of studies required ahead of the construction phase of a crucial rail tunnel in Gothenburg, Sweden. The project, which forms part of the "Nordic Triangle railway/road axis" (TEN-T Priority Project 12), will, once the tunnel is completed, ultimately help improve rail travel both through Gothenburg and to its port.

The project, which was selected for funding under the 2011 TEN-T Annual Call, will cover two studies in the planning phase of the Gothenburg rail tunnel. These are the system documents, which specify the technical system for the rail tunnel, and the railway plan, which sets out the exact path of the tracks for the new tunnel. Both studies are a key component of the rail tunnel project and their completion is a required stepping stone before construction can begin.

Once complete, the Gothenburg rail tunnel will eliminate a current bottleneck on the Nordic Triangle corridor, by increasing traffic capacity and allowing trains to travel through Gothenburg station, currently a dead-end station. The planned tunnel will be a 9.7 km long, double track railway tunnel, which will improve connections both on the Oslo-Gothenburg-Copenhagen railway line and to the Port of Gothenburg.